Railway-rail brace



Jun 12, 1928.

' L. TRIVILLIAN RAILWAY RAIL BRACE Filed Nov. 21, 1927 A TTORNE Y.

Patented June 12, 1928.

LOUIS TRIVILLIAN, OF SOUTH CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA.

RAILWAY-RAIL BEACE.

.. Application filed November 21, 1927.

This invention relates to rail braces, and it has for an object theprovision of novel means for holding rails against movement or tilting.

It is well known that the rails of railway tracks spread and that wrecksare induced through the yielding of the rails when they spread orseparate, one from the other, and it is an object of this invention toso hold the rails that they will be prevented from tilting or spreading.

It is av further object of this invention to provide a brace of thecharacter indicated which will serve to relieve the anchoring spikesfrom strain tending to dislodge them, and this advantage results inprolonging the utility and durability of ordinary wooden cross tieswhich are now so generally used in railway construction.

It is a still further object of this invention to produce a rail bracewhich may be used in association with the cross ties now in common use,or the braces may be located between cross ties, according to therequirements in practice.

It is furthermore an object of this invention to provide a rail bracecombined with fish plates which would be operative to span the jointsbetween abutting rails in order that the said rails may be held in placewith such surface bearings as will be eliicient to retain the partsassembled.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a rail bracecomprising few com parat-ively inexpensive partswhich can beexpeditiously manipulated in assembling or dismantling the parts of thebrace.

Vith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists inthe details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination ofparts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to theaccon'ipanying drawings forming part of this application, wherein likecharacters denote corresponding parts in the several views, and in whichFigure 1 illustrates a plan view of frag ments of rails showing a deviceembodying the invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 illustrates a view in side elevation of the device applied torails, the said device being partly in section;

Figure 3 illustrates a plan view of frag- Serial No. 234,787.

ments of the coacting plates and wedges with the sleeve embracing samein section;

Figure 4t illustrates a view in elevation of a modified sleeve; and

Figure 5 illustrates a detail view partly in section showing a modifiedform of bracing member.

The invention, in its present emhmliment, comprises two members havingprovision for embracing the outer base flanges and engaging the outerwebs of rails and. other elements effective to overlie the inner baseflanges and engaging the inner webs of rails, associated with novelmeans whereby pres sure or force is exerted by the rail ei'igagingmembers on the rails, and whereby said force or pressure is maintaii'iedso long as the parts are assembled.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings, which illustrate oneembodiment of the invention, the aforesaid members are in the form ofplates and 11 having their inner ends superimposed, wherein the outerend of each member is doubled on itself to form a seat 12- to receivethe outer base flange 18 of a rail 1 t, and the outer end of each memberis shaped to project upwardly in order that one face of the upwardlyprojecting extension may lie against and brace the web of a rail, andthe relation of parts may be such that the extremity of the upwardprojection engages the under surface of the head of the rail foraugmenting the bracing action of the device. As the outer ends of thesuperimposed members are identical in construction, the foregoingdescrip tion will apply to the outer ends of both of said members.

Near the inner end of the plate 10, the material is doubled on itselfand the end 15 thereof constitutes a shoulder or abutment which isengaged by the exp-antlers or wedges 16 interposed between said end andthe end 15 of the superimposed member which is doubled on itself nearthe end, it being shown that the material of the member 10 is bentdownwardly and. underlies the main portion of the member 11, whereby thedoubled portion of the member 11 overlies the main portion of the member10. The underlying member 10 is bent upwardly or offset, as shown at 17,in order that it will lie practically in alinement with the main portionof the member 11 and engage the base of a rail.

Plates 18 and 19 coact with the aforementioned plates and the rails, andeach of said plates is in engagement for a portion of its length withthe plates 10 and 11, respectively. Each of the plates 18 and 19 isshaped at its outer end to conform with or engage the upper surface ofthe base flange of a rail and the side of the web of the rail, asindicated generally by the numeral '20. The inner ends of the plates 18and 19 will ride on the upper surface of the member 11 and the relationof parts is such that their ends abut each other when the rails aredrawn toward ach other by the action of the wedges on the ends of themembers 10 and 11. In the event of there being lost motion between themembers 18 and 19 and the rails, when the rails are in proper gage, afiller or wedge 21 of proper thickness will be interposed between theends of the members 18 and 19 to insure proper pressure of the outerends of the members 18 and 19 on the flanges 13 of the rail.

A sleeve or collar 22 is slidable on the assembled plates and it shouldbe of such dimensions as to be frictionally retained when it is forcedon the assembled members to cover the joints between the ends of theseveral members and as a shield for the wedges and filling strips orplates. The collar is relatively wide, although the inventor does notwish to be limited with respect to its width and itmay be formed, asshown in the drawing, as a one-piece sleeve, or as comprising two piecesformed by welding the flanges 13 together.

The members 10 and 18, as well as the members 1.1 and 19, are providedwith clamps or clips, such as 23, located adjacent the rails to insurethat the pressure of the members on the rail flanges will serve tomaintain the elliciency of the device.

In Fig. 5 it is seen that provision is made for increased bearingsurfaces between the ends of the members and the rail. In thisembodiment of the invention, the outer ends of themembers 10' and 18'may be elongated, as shown at 24 and 25, to act as fish plates whichwill span a joint between the meeting ends of rails and serve asincreased bearing surfaces for holding the rails. Of course the membersfor either rail may be so shaped according to the location of the jointwhere the rails are being secured.

This rail brace can, of course, be used between cross ties or it can beused on cross ties. In the latter instance, the cross ties would have tobe cut away to form seats of the required configuration for receivingthe equipment in order that its upper surface would be in position toreceive and support the base of a rail on the proper level.

The elongated plates 24 and 25 may be employed without. fastenings orthey may be associated with the usual lish plate bolts 26 as shown inFigure 5.

I claim:

1. In a railway rail brace, coacting members adapted to pull railstoward each other, the said members comj'irising plates having theirinner ends superimposed and slidable, one with relation to the other,the lowermost of said plates having an overturned portion terminating ina shoulder and the other of said members having an undtu'turm-d portiontern'iinating in a shoulder facing the shoulder of the coacting member,means engaging the said shoulders for exerting force tending to separatethem, each of said members having a rail base engaging and embracingportion at the outer end, members movable above and with relation to thefirst mentioned members and having outer ends adapted to brace rails,the said members having inner ends adapted to coact with each other forlimiting the inward movement of the engaging members, clamps on thefirst and second mentioned members near their locations of attachment tothe rails, asleeve slidable on the before mentioned assembled members,and wedges, for guarding the joints of all the members between therails.

2. Ina railway rail brace, coacting members adapted to pull rails towardeach other, the said members con'iprising plates having their inner endssupcrimposrd and slidable, one with relation to the other, the lowermostof said plates having an overturned portion terminating in a shoulderand the other of said members having an nnderturned portion terminatingin a shoulder facing the shoulder of the coacting member, means engagingthe said shoulders for exerting force tending to separate them, each ofsaid members having a rail base engaging and embracing portion attheouter end, members movable above and with relation to the firstmentioned members and having outer ends adapted to brace rails, the saidmembers having inner ends adapted to enact with each other for limitingthe inward movement oi the engaging members, spacing elements betweenthe last mentioned inner ends, clamps on the first and second mentionedmembers near their locations'of attzurhment to the rails, a sleeveslidable on the before mentioned assembled members, and wedges, i'orguarding the joints of all the members between the rails.

his LOUIS XkTRIVILLIAN.

